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Episode 1421: A Game of Inches
Date August 24, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about beer and the mercy rule, a 12-minute game finish at Fenway, whether baseball players have high job satisfaction, compelling playoff races and especially lucky and unlucky contending teams, robot ump implications (including measuring player heights, determining the shape of the zone, and preserving receivers’ sense of self-worth), and the Angels’ unorthodox rotation and the future of pitching staffs and Shohei Ohtani. Topics * Episode 1420 follow-up: Mercy rule and alcohol sales * Fan feelings about extra inning games * Fenway Park attendance and atmosphere for 12-minute game * Do baseball players have more fun at their jobs? * Most compelling playoff races * New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and the NL Wild Card * Cluster luck * Player heights and TrackMan generated strike zones * Manipulating the robot strike zone * Determining size of the strike zone and impact on catcher framing * Catcher deception * Angels' staff depth and lack of 100-inning pitchers Intro The Beths, "Happy Unhappy" Outro Derek and the Dominos, "Tell the Truth" Banter * All-banter episode Email Question * Dan: "I was reading the Jayson Stark article about the changes in the Atlantic League and it got me thinking, again, about the passed ball rule and why it was implemented. Might the motivation to create the rule be to prevent catchers from routinely deceiving hitters by setting up far away from the hopeful pitch location when no runners are aboard and there are less than 2 strikes? It seems like it would become common practice if an automated strike zone was implemented. Am I overestimating the impact of where the catcher sets up? Do pitchers need a target (some catchers don’t seem to really give one)? Do hitters pay attention (seems like they must or catchers wouldn’t shift their positioning at the last minute)? I’ve always loved the gamesmanship between the catcher and hitter; maybe this is a way to preserve (enhance?) it." Notes * Meg is excited to talk about the short conclusion of the Red Sox suspended game but also doesn't want to say much since she is writing about it. * Albert Pujols has 10 stolen bases since he was last caught stealing in 2015. * Players in the Atlantic League who lied about their height to the TrackMan system faced the consequence of having high strikes called on them that were not called previously. Ben and Meg discuss which players are most likely to be lying about their heights and the impact this would have on MLB player height data if TrackMan umpiring were implemented. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1421: A Game of Inches * Freaks and Geeks- Placebo Effect * Do We Need $75,000 a Year to Be Happy? by Belinda Luscombe * Cluster Luck by Ed Feng * Atlantic League feeling the benefit and downside of an automated strike zone by Gabe Lacques * If Robot Umpires Stick Around, Will A New Strike Zone Follow? by J.J. Cooper * The Atlantic League's Radical Stolen Base Experiment by Rob Arthur * The Big Lies People Tell In Online Dating * Do High Sock Players Get 'Hosed' by the Umpires? by Frank Firke * Erik Kratz, and Another Thing About Catchers That We Can't Quantify Yet by Ben Lindbergh Category:Episodes